"...Trump has firmly planted his feet on the no-man's-land between the reality Americans see around them and the fiction that conventional wisdom and politically correct speech define. In the process, he has increased his voter share to a lead in the Republican primary and improved his favorability rating by 17 points.In the July 30 Quinnipiac Poll, he registered a 50-33 favorable rating among Republicans and a 27-59 among all voters. This rating was a big improvement over the 20-69 rating he had with all voters in their previous poll.The establishment is waiting for Trump to make a mistake. But even as he tip-toes over the line of political correctness, his detractors need to understand that he -- unlike they -- is a media pro. Where they may occasionally appear on camera, Trump does it every week. He constantly threads his way between critics and says what he thinks. Doing so in a political context is no big deal for him...." see full article

"... While it's tempting to laugh Trump off as an eccentric celebrity gadfly or relegate coverage of his campaign to the entertainment pages, as the Huffington Post recently did in an unusually earnest fit of pique there's a reason why Trump is so far setting the tone for the Republican primary: More than any other candidate, he cynically and shamelessly panders to the party's increasingly paranoid style. This element, sadly, can no longer be considered a fringe collection of refuseniks, denialists, birthers, repealers, and conspiracy-mongers; it's now firmly in the GOP mainstream. While Trump was playing the militiaman in Laredo, Texas, for example, 235 House Republicans voted to pass the Enforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act (dubbed the Donald Trump Act by Democrats), which would block these cities from receiving federal law-enforcement aid despite the fact that sanctuary cities are safer than others, and despite the fact that, pace Trump, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans...." see full article

962 days ago | commdiginewsCan Donald Trump win the nomination and the White House? - Communities Digital News"...Yet, not one of the candidates who will appear on the debate stage with Trump should underestimate the NBC reality show host's ability to maneuver around debate questions.The other nine in Cleveland should take a page from boxing legend Muhammad Ali's playbook and play a little political rope-a-dope with Trump.Trump may actually take a couple tumbles on the political mat that evening, if Carson, Cruz, Huckabee, Walker or the others land real solid verbal politically substantive policy punches. Solid Policy answers may very well be Trump's Achilles' heel.It is true that the GOP political nomination may still be up for grabs. It is also true that Mr. Trump self financed billion dollar pathway to the nomination begins in Cleveland and could begin to wither there as well...." see full article

"...So why don't people just refuse to answer pollsters' calls now, or simply say they are undecided? Many voters, even those not engaged in politics, will nevertheless have something to say about whatever is currently in the news about Trump or Clinton or Jeb Bush or Bernie Sanders. But those answers are not, in most cases, anywhere close to a final decision about anything. They're just a reaction to the information out there right now information that will change over the course of the campaign.And party actors politicians, campaign and governing professionals, formal party officials and staff, donors and activists, party-aligned interest groups, and the partisan press will have a lot of influence over what information will be available to casual voters when elections approach.It's possible that something important has changed, and that what explained previous elections no longer holds in 2016. But so far there's no sign of anything like that. Keep that in mind when you see those polls showing an early Trump lead or unimpressive favorability ratings for Clinton or liberal love for Sanders...." see full article

"...Again, it's important not to get carried away by this result. Trump is not going to win the nomination. Winning 24 percent of Republicans is impressive in a crowded field, but it's still very far away from a majority of the party. Additionally, Trump's polling surge resembles those of past "outsider" candidates known for saying provocative things, like Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, and Herman Cain candidates who all eventually collapsed. GOP elites will go to the mattresses to stop Trump, who looks toxic in a general election, from being their nominee. Trump's candidacy may collapse well before the first ballots are cast, and even if it survives until then, the party will eventually find a non-Trump alternative to unify around.Yet one risk inherent to that is that Trump could fund his own third-party candidacy and this new poll finds that in a three-way race, Hillary Clinton would get 46 percent, Jeb Bush 30 percent, and Trump 20 percent...." see full article

"...Should Trump ride out the storm and he has flourished in the squalls he has stirred up so far the question will have to be asked. Has American politics collapsed? Has the Republican party lost its collective mind? Is the Trump surge for real?Veteran observers of US politics counsel calm, predicting that Trump will dazzle for a bit and then fade. With 16 months to go until election day and many voters doing everything they can to avoid political news, it's too early, analysts say, for polling numbers to mean much. In the turbulent 2012 Republican nominating race, they point out, the so-called lead was passed among at least four non-competitive candidates before settling on eventual victor Mitt Romney.Rick Wilson, a veteran Republican political consultant, said Trump was experiencing a celebrity political bubble ...." see full article

973 days ago | pressheraldAnother View: In pope versus Trump race, billionaire wins easily - The ... - Press Herald"...Most are in poor taste, and those places could house a lot of needy people. So let's not think the pope is some giving, warm-hearted, caring person. He is a person of power, just like Trump.Yet Trump is spending his own money on his campaign, and a lot of people are getting nervous. The pope is not giving anything away. Can you just imagine the wealth stored in the Vatican?Trump, like the majority of Americans, welcomes legal immigration, not illegal immigration.So I am leaning on Team Trump and for once in a very long time, I am excited about this election...." see full article

974 days ago | cnbcTrump won't win, but yes, he matters - CNBC.com - CNBC"...Novelty candidates such as Trump think Herman Cain in 2012 have flared up in GOP primaries before only to fade quickly. Trump is likely to do so as well once the debates start and his relatively thin base of knowledge of global affairs is put to the test against more seasoned debaters. But Trump is likely to play a much more important role than Cain or any of the other front-runner-for-a-day candidates in 2012. If the real estate billionaire uses the debate to savage Bush over his immigration and education policies, he could do a huge favor to the rest of the field, particularly Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who are the most likely GOP nominees after Bush. Bush wants to spend his time on the debate stage proving that he is a mature, seasoned leader with a realistic plan to boost American wages and get growth revved up to 4 percent per year. That will be hard to do if Trump is constantly in his face...." see full article

975 days ago | ringoffireradioNationalism, not Racism, is Trump's Plan to Win the White House – It Worked in ... - Ring of Fire"...Nonetheless, in the great tradition of the GOP in recent years, Trump will soon find out that he is overreaching. There are important differences between Germany of the 1930s and the US today. Germany was a very homogeneous nation. There was no significant immigrant population. Furthermore, Germany's experience with democracy was extremely limited at that time. Culturally, the majority of Germans were not inclined to question authority. On the other hand, the US has drawn and taken in immigrants from all over the globe. We've also had well over two centuries of experience and opportunities to experiment with democracy. Historically, Americans have also maintained a healthy suspicion of authority and institutions (government and otherwise) that get too big for their britches.The fact remains that France and the US are different societies facing different challenges. Furthermore, the US is a far more pluralistic and culturally diverse society. At worst, the majority of Americans accept and tolerate it; at best, we embrace it...." see full article

"...But Trump clearly isn't running to win an award for consistency or, for that matter, to win the presidency. If his candidacy is, in fact, a well-executed troll, Trump will never let on that it was all an act.The Republican leadership's best hope is that he implodes or that they can find a way to undermine him with the very voters to whom he's appealing.That is, the best way to deal with The Donald is a counter-troll operation. Democrats couldn't be more giddy. Trump's even threatening to run a third-party candidacy, which could rob Republicans of needed votes in swing states in 2016.If Hillary Clinton didn't put him up to that if emails planning Trump's candidacy weren't on the server she wiped clean she really missed out on a Machiavellian way to sabotage the GOP...." see full article

975 days ago | miamiheraldThere will never be a President Trump"...Before one more straight-faced political story is written about the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump, the obvious begs to be stated: The man has absolutely no chance of winning.Zero. Nada.Write it down. Take it to the bank. Bet the farm.This preening self-parody of an egomaniac will never, ever be elected president of the United States. He has more baggage than all the Kardashians put together, and less class. The only way he could win is if the Democrats nominate Bill Cosby.Anyone who manages to defame an entire Hispanic nationality on his first day of campaigning will, inevitably, offend practically everybody . The early Republican polls showing Trump in second position behind Jeb Bush are hilarious and meaningless.Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/carl-hiaasen/article27059140.html#storylink=cpy..." see full article

"...None of this will get him elected. In America, celebrity is the highest stage of citizenship, but despite the encroaching signs of oligarchy the majority of us like to at least keep up democratic appearances. If we're voting for a rich guy, like Michael Bloomberg in New York City's mayoral races, we prefer that he not point to his bank account as the reason he should have even more power over our lives. And he lacks the minimal self-awareness required of the country's chief executive. After making comments about dangerous Mexicans, he told NBC News, I'll tell you something, if I get the nomination, I'll win the Latino vote. Trump weirdly tends to preface references to ethnic categories with an article, e.g. his statement in 2011 that he has a great relationship with the blacks. This sounds like a quibble until you reflect upon the way placing an article before an ethnicity tends to be part of the setup for a statement that is cluelessly offensive. (Add the word the before the racial ethnic group of your choice and it practically requires that you follow up with a conspiracy theory.)..." see full article

977 days ago | spectatorYes, Trump Can Win | The American Spectator - American Spectator"...So. Here we are again.Is Donald Trump Ronald Reagan? Unless the Almighty has changed His ways and started duplicating human souls, no. All of God's children are unique etc., etc., etc. Both men were and are uniquely talented with their own set of gifts and flaws. But while Donald Trump is not Ronald Reagan, without doubt the rationale of their respective political opponents in the media and the Establishment wing of the Republican Party is almost literally identical. In some cases right down to a literal word or phrase.The real question here? Why, exactly, is that? The answer to that question is, in fact, very simple.Ronald Reagan was, and Donald Trump is, a threat. A threat to the power of the Ruling Class Establishment, of the status quo and most of all to that Establishment's Old World Order. ..." see full article

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